Electrical connector applying tool



Oct. 13, 1964 FLOYD, JR

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR APPLYING TOOL 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 4, 1962 Oct. 13, 1964 E. FLOYD, JR 3,152,390

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR APPLYING TOOL Filed Sept. 4, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 98 R as Oct. 13, 1964 E. FLOYD, JR

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR APPLYING TOOL Filed Sept. 4, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 United States Patent 3,152,390 ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR APPLYING TOOL Edwin Floyd, Jr., Lower Paxton Township, Harrisburg, Pa., assignor to AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa. Filed Sept. 4, 1962, Ser. No. 221,286 Claims. (Cl. 29-203) This invention relates to tools for applying electrical connectors and wires to terminal posts in a manner disclosed in the copending application of Robert F. Cobaugh, Serial No. 171,074, filed February 5, 1962, for Electrical Connectors. In accordance with the essential principles of this Cobaugh invention, the wire is positioned with its axis extending across a rectangular terminal post to which an electrical connection is to be made and a generally channel-shaped connector clip is moved axially onto the post. In accordance with one embodiment of the Cobaugh invention, the insulating sheath on the wire is pinched between the clip and a suitable anvil on the applying device or tool and is torn or cut by the edges of the clip and anvil so that upon further movement of the clip, the conducting core of the end portion of the wire is pulled from its insulating sheath. Thereafter and upon further movement of the clip onto the post, the core is dragged over the post so that at the cessation of movement of the clip, the conducting core is held against the post by the clip.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for applying connector clips to terminal posts. A more specific object is to provide a hand tool for applying connector clips to posts having improved means for centering the post with respect to the clip. A further object is to provide a manually actuated hand tool having magazine means for storing a plurality of connector clips and dispensing a single clip for each applying operation. A still further object is to provide a clip applying tool having improved wire guide means to permit accurate positioning of the wire with respect to the terminal post prior to the clip applying operation.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved in a preferred embodiment comprising a pistol grip type hand tool having a plunger thereon which, upon closure of the handles, is adapted to push a connector clip past a properly positioned wire and onto a terminal post. The clips are supplied from a magazine located in the forward end of the tool which contains a stack of clips with the uppermost clip of the stack located in alignment with the plunger so that upon movement, the plunger skims of: this uppermost clip. Since the terminal post must be precisely positioned with respect to the path of movement of the terminal clip, there is provided a pair of aligning fingers at the forward end of the tool which normally abut each other and which have opposed recesses in their ends for reception of the end of the terminal post, these fingers being pivotally mounted at their opposite ends to permit their being moved out of the path of the connector and the plunger during the movement of the plunger towards the terminal post. In the preferred embodiment of the instant invention, the wire which is to be connected to the post is threaded into an opening at the end of the tool. Since the Wires being applied are often quite small, I provide a pivoted wire guide member having an inclined or sloping surface leading towards the mouth of the wire receiving opening so that the operator need only move the end of the wire along this inclined surface and it will be guided into the opening prior to actuation of the plunger.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a tool in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of one type of con- See nector clip which is adapted to be applied to a terminal post by the tool of FIGURE 1; this figure also shows a stack of clips arranged in the manner in which they are loaded in the magazine of the tool of my preferred embodiment.

FIGURE 3 is a view taken along the lines 3-3 of FIGURE 2 showing the cross section of the connector clips.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view showing the end of a terminal post and illustrating the manner in which a wire is connected to the post by a connector clip.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged side view in section showing the frontal end of the tool of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 5A is a View taken along the lines 5A5A of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 6 is a side sectional view on an enlarged scale showing the frontal end of the tool with the various parts being shown in the positions they occupy at the end of a clip applying operation.

FIGURES 7 and 8 are views taken along the lines 7-7 and S-3 of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary top plan view of the frontal end of the tool showing particularly the clamping or positioning fingers which locate the terminal post with respect to the end of the tool.

FIGURE 10 is a view similar to FIGURE 9 showing the manner in which these fingers are moved apart upon forward motion of the clip applying plunger.

Referring first to FIGURES 2-4, a connector clip 2 in accordance with the above-mentioned Cobaugh invention is of generally C-shaped cross section and has a substantially flat web 6 with upstanding sidewalls 8 on its sides and having the edges 10 of these sidewalls inwardly turned and directed toward the underside of the web. \Veb 6 is notched at one end thereof as shown at 12 and has an outwardly cupped insulation support portion 14 at the seat of the notch so that after application of the clip 2 to the terminal post 4, the stripped end of the wire W is held against the post by the clip while the end portion of the insulation is contained within the cupped insulation support section 14. This arrangement, with the Wire extending along the web of the clip and with the end portion of the insulation clamped within the insulation support, provides a strain relief for the wire to relieve the conducting core thereof from carrying tensile loads which might be applied to the wire.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 5, a preferred embodiment of a tool in accordance with the present invention comprises a frame member 15 having arms 16, 17 depending from its ends which are integrally joined at their lower ends 19. A channel or groove 21 in the upper portion of frame 15 receives one end of a guide plate 18 to which it is secured by means of rivets 23. Guide plate 18 extends rearwardly of the frame member and is received in a similarly shaped channel 22 in the upper end of a movable handle member 20, the guide plate having a pin-slot connection 24, 26 with this movable handle in order to permit limited forward movement of the handle towards the frame. The movable handle is normally biased to the position of FIGURE 1 by means of a coil spring 32 located between the arm 16 and the handle and having tangentially extending end portions 33, 34 which are secured to suitable pins in recesses of the arm 16 and the handle member 20.

A plunger 28 is slidably mounted on the upper surface of guide plate 18 and has its rearward end as viewed in FIGURE 1 received within the slot 22 of the handle 20 and is secured by means of fasteners 3i) to the handle so that movement of the handle 26 towards the arms 16 of the frame results in forward movement of the plunger with respect to the tool frame. The underside of the plunger 28 has an axially extending channel 38 therein (FIGURE 7) which receives an upstanding axially extending guide rib 36 on the upper side of guide plate 18. The channel or groove 38 is substantially enlarged at the forward end of the plunger to provide a recess 40 which is adapted to cradle a clip 2 and move it onto a terminal post 4 in a manner described below. The underside of the plunger 28 immediately adjacent to recess 40 and on each side of the channel or groove 38 is tapered or inclined as shown at 42 .in order to facilitate a carnming effect which takes place during forward movement of the plunger. The end of plunger 28 has a centrally located notch 44 which partially encircles and centers the wire W during a clip applying operation. The upper surface of the plunger 28 is inclined at its leading end 46 again in order to facilitate a camming effect which takes place during operation as is described below.

An anvil block 48 is mounted in the lefthand end of channel 21 of frame 15 by means of an car 50 which extends laterally from the anvil block and into a complementary recess in a nose 54 on the forward end of the plate 18, a rivet 52 being provided to hold this anvil block securely in position. The upper surface of the anvil block has a T-shaped guide rib (FIGURE 8) thereon in alignment with the rib 36 of the guide plate 18. The width or thickness of the web portion 56 of this guide rib is substantially equal to the distance between the inwardly turned edge portions of the connector while the width of the enlarged head 58 of the rib is slightly less than the distance between the opposed sidewalls 8 of the connector clip so that the clip is permitted to straddle and move axially along the rib when pushed thereover by the end of the plunger 28. The upper surface of the head 58 of this rib has an axially extending channel or groove 60 therein which advantageously has a cross sectional area substantially equal to the cross sectional area of the strands of the wire W although, as is explained in the above-mentioned Cobaugh application, it is not critical that the area of this groove be precisely equal to the area of the wire strands. Wires having cross sectional areas somewhat larger or somewhat smaller than the area of the groove can be accommodated in a single tool without change of the anvil block. An aligning finger 64 projects forwardly from the anvil block. The web portion 56 of the guide rib extends to the end of this aligning finger as best shown in FIGURE 9 while the enlarged head ends short of the end of the finger to provide a forwardly facing shoulder 62. As is shown in FIGURE 6, and as will be explained in greater detail below, the end portion of the rib 56 on the aligning finger is positioned against one side of the terminal post 4 and the end of the post is positioned against the shoulder 62 when the clip is applied.

The connector clips are supplied from a magazine contained in the depending arm 17 of the frame and fed through a clip feed passageway 66 in plate 18 which extends laterally of and intersects the path of reciprocation of the plunger. As shown in FIGURE 5, the end of this passageway is located adjacent to the rearward end of the anvil block 48 and the normal location of the end of the plunger 28 is such that the recess 40 in the end of the plunger is disposed over the passageway. The connector clips are resiliently urged through this passageway from the magazine as is described immediately below.

The magazine is contained within the forward depending arm 17 of the frame member which has a first relatively wide channel or groove 68 extending along its lefthand side as viewed in FIGURE 5 and a second channel 70 centrally aligned with respect to the wide channel 68. Advantageously, these grooves or channels are lined as shown at 72 with a sheet metal liner by means of which the inside dimensions of the grooves are accurately determined. A follower 74 is slidably mounted within the smaller channel 70 and is integral at its lower end with a guide 78 by means of an off-set extension 76. Guide 78 is slidably mounted on a rod 80 contained within the groove or channel 68 which rod bears against the underside of the plate 18 at its upper end 82 and which extends beyond frame arm 17 at its lower end. A channel-shaped cover plate 71 is fitted over the face of the arm 17 to close the channel 68 and is secured in place by means of suitable fasteners 73 threaded into the frame arm. At its lower end the rod has a nut 84 threaded thereto which is held in osition by means of a clip 83 secured to the cover plate 71 and having an inwardly turned arm 86 which extends over the end of nut 84. Advantageously, a guide pin is fitted in nut 84 and has its ends received in slots in the sides of channel 83 to locate the rod accurately and prevent it from moving laterally. A spring 38 surrounds the rod 80 and acts between the upper face of nut 84 and the underside of the guide member 78 so that the guide member and the follower 74 are urged upwardly in FIGURE 5 to feed the stack of connector clips towards the feed path and to locate the leading clip in alignment with the plunger.

In order to position the end of the terminal post accurateiy and precisely with respect to the plunger and the connector clip being applied, there is provided a pair of clamping and guide fingers 90 on each side of the plunger. At their rearward ends these fingers are pivotally mounted on parallel spaced apart pins 92 which are threaded into bosses 94 in the frame member on each side of the plunger. These fingers taper generally towards each other and have inwardly curved end portions 96. The extreme end portions 97 of the fingers normally abut the guide rib extension 56 on its sides and the tops of the fingers extend over the top of this guide rib extension and normally bear against each other as shown in FIGURE 9. The abutting ends of the fingers are grooved as shown at 98 to form a passageway for the terminal post to locate this post accurately with respect to the axis of the tool and to position it against the shoulder 62 preparatory to a clip applying operation. Thus, when it is desired to align the tool with a terminal post, the tool is moved axially towards the post until the latter member extends through the passageway formed by the recesses 98 with the end of the post positioned against the shoulder 62. The aligning fingers are normally resiliently biased against each other, that is, to the position of FIGURE 9, by leaf springs 100 secured to the sides of cover plate 71 which have end portions extending past and over the tops of the fingers intermediate their ends. It will thus be apparent that if the tool is properly positioned with respect to the terminal post 4, these fingers will have their ends against each other as viewed in FIGURE 9 and the terminal post will extend centrally through the recesses in the ends of the fingers and will have one of its sides disposed against the top surface of the rib 56.

The disclosed embodiment of the invention, like one of the tools shown in the copending Cobaugh apparatus, has a wire receiving opening 102 extending through the anvil block and transversely of the path of movement of the terminal clip. In order to gauge the length of wire which should be inserted into this opening, I provide a rod 104 slidably contained in the opening which rod extends downwardly in FIGURE 5 beyond the guide plate 18. The lower end of the rod is secured to a plate 106 which in turn is slidably mounted against cover plate 71 by means of pin-slot connections 108, 110. Rod 104 and plate 106 are normally biased downwardly in FIG- URE 5 by means of a spring 112 which surrounds the rod 104 and acts between the guide plate 18 and the plate 106. This slidable rod in the wire receiving opening 102 also serves as an ejector for stripped insulation in that after a clip applying operation has been carried out, the plate 106 can be moved upwardly in FIGURE 5 thereby to move the rod 104 upwardly and push the stripped section of insulation from the opening.

In the disclosed embodiment I provide a guide block 114 for guiding the wire into the opening 102 preparatory to the clip applying operation. This. guide block has a f, V I

notch at its forward end having sloping sidewalls 116 which taper towards the axis of the opening 102 so that if the wire W is merely moved over the surface of the notch, it will be guided into the opening and will be properly positioned for the applying operation. The guide block, like the fingers, must move out of the way of the plunger 28 during the applying operation and to this end this block has its rearward end pivoted at 118 in a groove of a mounting bracket 120 which is clamped to the upper ends of the pins 92 by means of fasteners as shown in FIGURE 7. Guide block 114 is normally biased to the position of FIGURE 5, that is, to a position such that the sides of the notch 116 lead to the opening 102, by means of a leaf spring 122 secured to the mounting bracket and having its end bearing against the upper surface of the block.

In use, the parts will initially be in the position of FIGURES l and 5 With the end of the plunger disposed adjacent to the upper end of the stack of connector clips contained in the magazine and over the passageway 66. The operator first moves the wire along the guide surface 116 until it has been inserted into the opening 102 with its end abutting the end of rod 104. Thereafter the operator aligns the finger 64 on the end of the anvil block with the terminal post and moves the tool towards the terminal post until the latter member extends through the recess 93 and abuts the shoulder 62 on the end of the T-shaped guide rib. After the tool has been properly positioned on the post, the upper surface of the rib 56 will thus bear against one side of the post 4, the end of the post will bear against the shoulder 62, and the post will extend through the grooves 98 in the ends 97 of the guide fingers. The operator then squeezes the handles to move the handle 20 towards the forward frame member and to move the plunger 28 leftwardly from the position of FIGURE 5 to the position of FIGURE 6. During such motion of the plunger, the uppermost connector clip in the magazine is stripped from the stack of clips and moved over the T-shaped guide rib 56, 58 towards the opening 162 and towards the wire. During initial movement of the plunger, the tapered underside 42 of the plunger will engage the next adjacent connector clip of the stack and push the entire stack downwardly by a small amount in order to permit passage of the plunger over the top surface of the next adjacent clip member.

when the plunger reaches the guide block 114, its tapered upper surface 46 will cam this block upwardly against the biasing force of the spring 122 so that it will be moved out of the way of the plunger and permit passage thereof beneath the guide block. As the clip moves past the wire, the insulation will be clamped by the insulation support cupped portion 14 of the clip web 6. As the web clip progresses past the wire receiving opening and particularly as the end of this insulation support portion 14 thereof passes the opening, the insulation of the wire will be pinched against the edges of the opening 102 and because of the relatively close fit of the connector clip on the guide rib 56, 58, the insulation will not be permitted to pass along with the wire towards the terminal post and towards the end of the tool. As a result, the wire insulation is pinched and torn or cut but the conducting core or the metallic strands of the Wire are pulled out of the sheath and axially along the upper surface of the enlarged head 58 of the guide ribs and through the groove 60 in this head of the rib. As ex plained in the abovementioned Cobaugh application, stripping of the end portion of the Wire takes place, in effect, when the conducting core of the wire is dragged out of the end tubular section of the insulation after this end section has been circumferentially cut or torn; in some instances the insulation may be torn entirely or almost entirely around its circumference while in other circumstances, the insulation may be cut rather than torn.

As the plunger moves further along the guide rib 56, 53, the tapered front end of the plunger engages the spring fingers 90 and moves them outwardly from the position of FIGURE 9 to the position of FIGURE 10 to permit pas sage of the plunger and the connector clip. Since the clip will have been positioned against the shoulder 62 on the anvil block, by the time these fingers will have been moved to the position of FIGURE 10 the connector clip will have been transferred to the terminal post and it only remains to move the plunger through the final portion of its stroke, to the position of FIGURE 6 to complete the clip applying operation.

Handle pressure on the handles can thereafter be released and the plunger will automatically retract under the influence of spring 32. After the completion of the clip applying operation, the severed section of insulation can be removed by moving the ejector plate upwardly thereby to drive the rod 104 upwardly and push the section of insulation out of opening 102.

The invention permits achievement of a compact clip applying hand tool having the advantage of a magazine feed for the clips and a centering means, including the fingers ?0, for aligning the tool with respect to the terminal post. The latter feature is of particular utility in tools adapted to apply clips to relatively small terminal posts provided on Wiring panels Where the small size of the posts renders alignment a more troublesome step than in the case of larger terminal clips.

Changes in construction will occur to those skilled in the art and various apparently difierent modifications and embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only. The actual scope of the invention is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective against the prior art.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for applying a generally C-shaped clip to a terminal post to secure a wire to said post, said apparatus comprising, a frame member, a terminal aligning finger integral with and extending from said frame member, a pair of clamping fingers pivotally mounted on parallel spaced apart axes on opposite sides of said frame member resilient means biasing said fingers towards said aligning finger whereby corresponding ends of said fingers normally bear agm'nst opposite sides of said aligning finger, and recessses in the abutting ends of said fingers for reception of the end of said terminal post whereby said apparatus can be positioned against said terminal post With said aligning finger against and extending parallel to said terminal post and with said clamping fingers gripping said terminal post, said apparatus including means for moving a terminal clip along a straight line path extending from said frame member, over said aligning finger, and between said clamping fingers thereby to move said clip onto said terminal post.

2. Apparatus for applying clips to terminal posts comprising a frame member, a terminal support finger integral with and extending from said frame member, a clip feeding plunger reciprocable along a straight line path on said frame member and along said support finger, and means for aligning said apparatus with a terminal post comprising, a pair of clamping fingers pivotally mounted on parallel spaced-apart axes on each sides of said path, said clamping fingers extending along said path and said support finger, resilient means biasing corresponding ends of said clamping fingers towards said support finger whereby said corresponding ends normally bear against opposite sides of said support finger, and opposed recesses in said corresponding ends for reception of said terminal post whereby, upon positioning said apparatus against and parallel to said support finger with an end portion thereof between said clamping fingers, said plunger is aligned with said terminal post, and upon actuation of said plunger, said clamping fingers are moved apart against the forces of said resilient means and a terminal clip is moved onto said post.

7 3. Apparatus for applying a generally C-shaped clip to a terminal post to secure a Wire to said post, said apparatus comprising, a frame member, a terminal aligning finger integral with and extending from said frame member, a pair of clamping fingers pivotally mounted on parallel spaced-apart axes on opposite sides of said frame member and extending along said frame member, resilient means biasing said clamping fingers towards said aligning finger whereby corresponding ends of said clamping fingers normally bear against opposite sides of said aligning finger, a plunger normally positioned on said frame member and movable along a straight line path over said frame memher, over said aligning finger, and between said clamping fingers, and a wire-receiving opening extending through said straight line path between said corresponding ends of said fingers and said plunger whereby, upon positioning said aligning finger against and in axial alignment with a terminal post with an end portion of said post held between said clamping fingers, locating a wire with its end portion in said opening, positioning a generally C-shaped clip member between said opening and said plunger, and moving said plunger towards and over said aligning finger, said clip is pushed past said wire and onto said post and drags said wire against said post, said clamping fingers being pushed apart during movement of said plunger between said fingers.

4. Apparatus for applying a generally C-shaped clip to a terminal post to secure a wire to said post, said apparatus comprising, a frame member, a terminal aligning finger integral with and extending from said frame member, a pair of clamping fingers pivotally mounted on parallel spaced-apart xes on opposite sides of said frame member and extending along said frame member, resilient means biasing said clamping fingers towards said fligning finger whereby corresponding ends of said clamping fingers normally bear against opposite sides of said aligning finger, a plunger normally positioned on said frame member and movable along a straight line path over said frame member, over said aligning finger, and between said clamping fingers, a wire receiving opening extending through said straight line path between said corresponding ends of said fingers and said plunger, and clip feeding means for feeding a C-shaped clip member to a location on said straight line path between said wire receiving opening and said plunger whereby, upon positioning said aligning finger against and in axial alignment with a terminal post with an end portion of said post held between said clamping fingers, locating a wire with its end portion in said opening, and moving said plunger along said path, said clip is pushed past said wire and onto said post and drags said wire from said opening, the insulation of said wire being severed and the conducting core thereof drawn from the end section of insulation, and said Wire is held against said post by said clip.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein said clip feeding means comprises a magazine in said frame memher for containing a stack of said clips in superimposed relationship, said magazine extending laterally of said path between said wire receiving opening and said plunger, and resilient means in said magazine for feeding said stack towards said straight line path.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,156,743 Skreba May 2, 1939 2,896,208 Alderman et al. July 28, 1959 2,949,665 Bergsland et al. Aug. 23, 1960 

1. APPARATUS FOR APPLYING A GENERALLY C-SHAPED CLIP TO A TERMINAL POST TO SECURE A WIRE TO SAID POST, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING, A FRAME MEMBER, A TERMINAL ALIGNING FINGER INTEGRAL WITH AND EXTENDING FROM SAID FRAME MEMBER, A PAIR OF CLAMPING FINGERS PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON PARALLEL SPACED APART AXES ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID FRAME MEMBER RESILIENT MEANS BIASING SAID FINGERS TOWARDS SAID ALIGNING FINGER WHEREBY CORRESPONDING ENDS OF SAID FINGERS NORMALLY BEAR AGAINST OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID ALIGNING FINGER, AND RECESSES IN THE ABUTTING ENDS OF SAID FINGERS FOR RECEPTION OF THE END OF SAID TERMINAL POST WHEREBY SAID APPARATUS CAN BE POSITIONED AGAINST SAID TERMINAL POST WITH SAID ALIGNING FINGER AGAINST AND EXTENDING PARALLEL TO SAID TERMINAL POST AND WITH SAID CLAMPING FINGERS GRIPPING SAID TERMINAL POST, SAID APPARATUS INCLUDING MEANS FOR MOVING A TERMINAL CLIP ALONG A STRAIGHT LINE PATH EXTENDING FROM SAID FRAME MEMBER, OVER SAID ALIGNING FINGER, AND BETWEEN SAID CLAMPING FINGERS THEREBY TO MOVE SAID CLIP ONTO SAID TERMINAL POST. 